🌐 Enterprise Network Automation & Operations Platform

A multi-branch enterprise network built in GNS3 and fully automated end-to-end with Python & Netmiko.

Covering OSPF routing, VLAN segmentation, SSH-based management, configuration backups, compliance auditing, configuration drift detection, and a unified HTML Network Operations Dashboard.

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📖 Table of Contents

• 🚀 Overview
• 🖧 Network Topology
• ✨ Key Features
• 🛠️ Tech Stack
• 📸 Dashboard Preview
• 📂 Repository Structure
• 🚀 Getting Started
• 💻 Usage
• 🛤️ Project Phases
• 🔮 Future Enhancements
• 👨‍💻 Author

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🚀 Overview

What started as a standard CCNA-level lab has evolved into a fully-fledged Network Operations Platform. Instead of manually logging into devices to verify state, a robust suite of Netmiko scripts automatically connects to every router and switch, retrieves live operational data, and renders it into a sleek, unified dashboard.

The Lab Scenario (ABC Company):

• HQ Site and two Branch Offices connected via OSPF (Area 0).
• Each site is segmented into specific VLANs for Users, Servers, and Management.
• A Python automation layer handles day-2 operations: config pushes, backups, drift detection, and compliance auditing against baselines.

🖥️ Environment	⚙️ Details
Lab Platform	GNS3 (inside GNS3 VM on VMware Workstation)
Devices	3x Cisco IOSv Routers, 2x Cisco IOSvL2 Switches, 4x VPCS
Routing & Switching	OSPF (Area 0) | VLAN 10 (Users), 20 (Servers), 99 (Mgmt)
Management	SSH via Netmiko (cisco_ios_telnet initially, SSH pushed later)

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🖧 Network Topology

Network Subnets:

📍 Site	🌐 Subnet	🚪 Gateway
Headquarters (HQ)	192.168.10.0/24	192.168.10.1
Branch 1	192.168.20.0/24	192.168.20.1
Branch 2	192.168.30.0/24	192.168.30.1

(Note: A GNS3 Cloud node bridges the Windows host machine to the lab for script access. More details in docs/phase3_topology_build.md)

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✨ Key Features

• 🔍 Automated Device Inventory: Automatically collects and categorizes all routers and switches.
• 💾 Scheduled Backups: Reliable, timestamped configuration backups.
• ❤️ OSPF Health Checks: Monitors neighbor adjacencies with clear pass/fail reporting.
• 🛡️ Compliance Auditing: Enforces baselines (hostnames, local admins, SSH v2, OSPF presence, encrypted passwords).
• 🔌 Interface Monitoring: Tracks real-time up/down status per interface.
• 🚀 VLAN Deployment: Automated zero-touch VLAN provisioning via Netmiko send_config_set.
• 📊 Drift Detection: Automatically spots configuration drift between any two backup periods.
• 🖥️ Unified Operations Dashboard (V2): A dark-themed, responsive HTML dashboard featuring live status cards, health scoring, compliance tables, drift viewer, and an interactive device explorer.

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🛠️ Tech Stack

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📸 Dashboard Preview

The flagship component of this project is the Unified Network Operations Dashboard V2. It runs asynchronously across all devices, pulling everything it needs, and outputs a stunning static HTML dashboard.

Click to expand Dashboard Screenshots

1. Overview & Status Cards

2. Switch Compliance & OSPF Health

3. VLAN, Backups & Drift Analysis

4. Device Search & Explorer

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📂 Repository Structure

Network-Automation-Platform/
├── 📄 Network_Automation.gns3                     # The main GNS3 lab project file
├── 📁 configs/           # Router & switch config templates/files
├── 📁 scripts/           # Python automation logic
│   ├── 📁 inventory/     # Device collection
│   ├── 📁 backups/       # Backup automation
│   ├── 📁 monitoring/    # OSPF, interfaces, and compliance scripts
│   ├── 📁 automation/    # VLAN deploy & config drift scripts
│   └── 📁 dashboard/     # Unified Operations Dashboard generator
├── 📁 backups/           # ⏳ Generated at runtime
├── 📁 drift_reports/     # ⏳ Generated at runtime
├── 📁 reports/           # ⏳ Generated at runtime (HTML dashboard lands here)
├── 📁 screenshots/       # Project evolution media
├── 📁 docs/              # Detailed phase-by-phase documentation
├── 📁 topology/          # Architecture diagrams
├── 📄 requirements.txt   # Python dependencies
└── 📄 README.md          # You are here!

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🚀 Getting Started

1️⃣ Prerequisites & Lab Setup

• GNS3 + GNS3 VM running on VMware Workstation.
• Python 3.11+ installed on your host machine.

2️⃣ Import the Lab

1. Provide Images: You must legally obtain your own Cisco IOSv and IOSvL2 images (e.g., from a CML subscription) and import them into your GNS3 VM.
2. Open Project: Open the provided Network_Automation.gns3 project file within GNS3 to load the full multi-branch topology. The devices should map to your imported images.
3. Verify Access: Ensure SSH is enabled with a local admin account configured on every router and switch in the lab.

3️⃣ Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

3️⃣ Update Device Connection Details

Each script inside the scripts/ directory defines its own routers / switches list (host, port, device type). Update these IP addresses and ports to match your GNS3 topology exposures.

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💻 Usage

It is highly recommended to run any script directly from inside the scripts/ folder so that relative paths (../backups, ../reports) resolve perfectly.

cd scripts

# 1. Run Core Operations
python inventory/inventory.py
python backups/backup_configs.py

# 2. Run Audits & Monitoring
python monitoring/ospf_health_check.py
python monitoring/compliance_audit.py
python monitoring/interface_monitor.py

# 3. Run Automation Scenarios
python automation/deploy_vlans.py
python automation/config_drift.py

# 4. Generate the Dashboard
python dashboard/network_operations_dashboard_v2.py

🎉 Pro Tip: Open the generated reports/network_operations_dashboard_v2.html in your favorite web browser to view the final result!

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🛤️ Project Phases

We documented our journey from zero to automated! Check out the phase docs below:

📅 Phase	📝 Description
Phase 1	GNS3 / VMware setup & Cisco IOSv image installation.
Phase 2	Topology design, IP/VLAN addressing, automation planning.
Phase 3	Building the lab, SSH bring-up, and IP reachability.
Phase 4	The Netmiko automation scripts (backups, OSPF, drift).
Phase 5	Evolution to the Unified Network Operations Dashboard V2.

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🔮 Future Enhancements

We're always looking to improve! Potential future directions:

• 🌐 Live Flask Dashboard with auto-refresh capabilities.
• 🔔 Slack/Email Alerts for compliance drops or OSPF neighbor failures.
• ⏱️ Scheduled Execution (Cron / Task Scheduler) for zero-touch backups.
• 🗺️ Dynamic Topology Visualization layer.
• 🐙 Git-Based Version Control for network configurations.
• 🔌 REST API exposing the underlying inventory and health data.

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👨‍💻 Author

Built and documented by Mayur Garje as a flagship CCNA-level network automation project, seamlessly combining Cisco IOS, GNS3, Python, and Netmiko.

If you found this project helpful, don't forget to give it a ⭐!